Priority of outbound messages communicated among end user communication devices

ABSTRACT

An exemplary method implemented by a first end-user communication device originates an electronic communication. User input is received to create information to be conveyed by the transmission of a digital packet having a header segment and a user data segment. The user data segment contains a user message and a priority value where the priority value conveys a corresponding message priority to a recipient device. The priority value and the user message are determined by the user of the first end-user communication device. Under the control of a first module of an enhanced services application program, a composition screen is displayed by which the user input including the user message is entered. Visual indicia indicative of a current message priority to be assigned to the user message is displayed on the composition. The first module causes insertion of the priority value corresponding to the current message priority in a priority field in the user data segment prior to transmission of the digital packet. The digital packet is transmitted with the user data segment that contains the user message and the priority value.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application, Ser. No.13/068,340 filed May 9, 2011, and entitled MANAGEMENT FOR INFORMATIONCOMMUNICATED AMONG END USER COMMUNICATION DEVICES, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application, Ser. No. 13/065,839 filed Mar.31, 2011, and entitled “UBIQUITOUS USER CONTROL FOR INFORMATIONCOMMUNICATED AMONG END USER COMMUNICATION DEVICES”.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to communications among end user communicationdevices and more specifically to the priority of user data processed byend user communication devices, especially but not limited to, wirelessend user communication devices, which may be made by differentmanufacturers and/or have different operating systems.

Wireless communication devices are now prevalent throughout alldeveloped countries of the world. Although cellular telephones arecurrently the most widespread, other types of wireless communicationdevices include personal digital assistants, laptop computers with Wi-Fiand/or telecommunication carrier communication support, and varioustypes of “pads” that provide visual displays that are larger thanconventional cellular telephones but typically smaller than the displaysof a laptop computer. Wireless voice communications between mobiledevices utilizing different types of communication protocols, e.g.analog, TDMA, CDMA, VOIP, etc., are supported by differenttelecommunication carriers which provide appropriate communicationprotocol interfaces/gateways to facilitate voice communications betweenmobile units using different communication protocols.

Various types of transport layer communication protocols are supportedby wireless communication devices. For example, text messaging, shortmessaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), email suchas by simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and instant messagingutilizing hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) are available. Each typeservice is supported by a transport layer communication protocol that ispart of the telecommunication signaling structure associated with thetransport of user communications and the communication oftelecommunication infrastructure commands and signals.

Some email client programs support setting an importance level of anemail message by the message originator. For example, importance levelscan be “high, normal, low”. However, various email clients may notrecognize an importance level originated by a different email client ormay provide different types of treatment of the message than intended bythe originator. In Microsoft Outlook email client the importance leveldetermines the order in which emails are transmitted from the client,i.e. an email with a high importance level will be transmitted ahead ofan email with a normal or low importance level even if the latter wasstored in a holding queue ahead of the former. Also, an importance levelis generally required to be processed by a server disposed in thetransmission path between the originator and recipient in order toconvey the importance level to the recipient. For example, a MicrosoftExchange Server transmits messages received from a Microsoft Outlookclient to the corresponding destinations from a holding queue in anorder based on importance level so that higher importance level messagesare transmitted ahead of lower importance level messages even if thelatter were received prior to the former.

SUMMARY

It is an object of this embodiment of the present invention to satisfy aneed for improved message priorities.

In accord with an embodiment of the present invention, an exemplarymethod implemented by a first end-user communication device originatesan electronic communication. User input is received to createinformation to be conveyed by the transmission of a digital packethaving a header segment and a user data segment. The user data segmentcontains a user message and a priority value where the priority valueconveys a corresponding message priority to a recipient device. Thepriority value and the user message are determined by the user of thefirst end-user communication device. Under the control of a first moduleof an enhanced services application program, a composition screen isdisplayed by which the user input including the user message is entered.Visual indicia indicative of a current message priority to be assignedto the user message is displayed on the composition. The first modulecauses insertion of the priority value corresponding to the currentmessage priority in a priority field in the user data segment prior totransmission of the digital packet. The digital packet is transmittedwith the user data segment that contains the user message and thepriority value.

An embodiment of the present invention includes the end-usercommunication device that executes this method.

An embodiment of the present invention also includes a computer programproduct, comprising a computer usable tangible medium having a computerreadable program code embodied therein, where the computer readableprogram code is adapted to be executed to implement this method.

Embodiments of the present invention further include all the steps,elements and features recited in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of exemplary implementations of the invention will becomeapparent from the description, the claims, and the accompanying drawingsin which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative communication system suitedfor supporting an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary device in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a known packet structure for transmitting an SMSmessage.

FIG. 4 illustrates a data segment having fields for containinginformation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a table where each row represents a transmission ofinformation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the mobileservices server in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a representation of the relationship of application programsoperating on a wireless mobile unit that provides enhanced services inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method practiced by a wireless mobile unitthat provides enhanced services in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of steps utilized by a wireless mobile unit toprocess a received message in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of steps utilized by wireless mobile unitassociated with the transmission of a message in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a table where each row represents a different messagepriority in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary view of a home screen of an enhanced servicesmodule as displayed on a wireless mobile unit providing a graphical userinterface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary view of a graphical user interface screenreached through selection of the SETTINGS icon as shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary view of the graphical user interface screenreached through selection of the PRIORITY DEFAULT icon as shown in FIG.13 by which a global default priority setting can be changed.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary view of a message composition screen providing agraphical user interface which may be reached through selection of theWRITE icon as shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary view of a graphical user interface screenreached through the selection of the PRIORITY icon as shown in FIG. 15by which a priority setting for the message being composed can be set toother than the global default priority.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, wireless communication systems 102 and 104 supportcommunications with a plurality of wireless mobile devices includingexemplary wireless mobile devices (units) 106 and 108, respectively. Thecommunication system 102 includes a home location register (HLR) 110that serves as an operations and administration center for registeredwireless mobile devices and includes information of the current locationof the respective mobile devices. A visitor location register (VLR) 112provides temporary registration and location services for wirelessmobile devices located in a communication system that is not the homesystem for the mobile device. A short messaging service center (SMSC)114 functions as a server for the transmission and reception of SMSmessages for wireless mobile devices supported by communication system102. A multimedia service center (MMSC) 116 provides a similar functionto SMSC 114 for the transmission and reception of multimedia informationfor wireless mobile devices supported by communication system 102. Thesenodes/elements perform their known functions as part of theinfrastructure that supports wireless mobile communications. A mobileswitching center (MSC) 118 provides switching for voice and datacommunications associated with the supported wireless mobile devices. Aplurality of radio access nodes (RANs) 120 and 122 provide a wirelesscommunications link between the system 102 and the supported wirelessmobile units. Each RAN is connected to the MSC 118 wherein wirelessmessages received from a mobile unit by a RAN are transferred to MSC 118for further routing, and messages to be delivered to a mobile unit aretransferred from the MSC 118 to a RAN where such messages are thenwirelessly transmitted by the RAN to the destination mobile unit. Theelements of communication system 104 are the same as elements incommunication system 102 and provide the same functionality for therespective supported mobile units. Hence, the elements of communicationsystem 104 need not be described in detail.

A communication network 124 provides a communication link between theMSCs of systems 102 and 104. Communications with an exemplarySMSC/HTTP/IMS server 126 is also supported by network 124, where HTTPmeans hypertext transfer protocol and IMS means Internet map server. Amobile services server 128 is supported by server 126 and facilitatesenhanced capabilities for wireless mobile units in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. For example, wireless mobile unitsmay access and download an application program from server 128 that canbe installed and operate on the wireless mobile unit to provide enhancedfunctionality and control of user data in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. This will be described in greater detailbelow. Another end user communication device 130, which may comprise acomputer or other device, is connected to the communication network 124by other than a wireless communication link, e.g. a wire internet linkthrough an IP service provider.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary block diagram of a device 202 which canrepresent mobile services server 128 or an end user wireless or wireddevice as explained below. A microprocessor 204 performs processes andtasks based on stored program instructions. It is supported by read-onlymemory (ROM) 206, random access memory (RAM) 208 and nonvolatile datastorage device 210. As will be understood by those skilled in the art,data and stored program instructions in ROM 206 is typically utilized bymicroprocessor 204 to initialize and boot the computing apparatus. Anapplication program, e.g. a program that controls the implementation ofone or more functions performed by the device, is stored in storageelement 210. At least active portions of the application program will betypically stored in RAM 208 for ready access and processing bymicroprocessor 204. The application program is specific to the functionsto be performed by the device, and performs the functions and steps asdescribed herein. A variety of user inputs 212 such as a keyboard,keypad, touchpad and/or mouse can be utilized to control the operationof the device and the application running on it. User outputs 214, e.g.a display monitor or screen, provide output for the user of the device.An input/output (I/O) module 216 provides a communication interfacepermitting microprocessor 204 to transmit and receive data with externalnodes. The above described elements of device 202 are utilized in awireless mobile unit, e.g. a cellular telephone, as well as in a server,e.g. mobile services server 128, and a wired connected end user device,e.g. a personal computer.

Where device 202 represents a wireless mobile unit, a radio frequencyreceiver 218, transmitter 220 and an antenna 222 are also present andused for wireless communications between the unit and supporting RANs.The I/O module 216 supports communications with supporting externalperipherals, e.g. USB communications with a peripheral. When device 202represents a wireless mobile unit, the application program controllingthe microprocessor 204 is supported by an operating system and includesan enhanced services (ES) application program such as downloaded fromserver 128 and installed in the wireless unit. In this case, the userwill be the person using the wireless mobile unit. The ES applicationprogram provides the wireless mobile unit with functions as explainedbelow.

Where device 202 represents the mobile services server 128 (whereelements 218, 220 and 222 are absent), the I/O module 216 supportscommunications with supporting external nodes, e.g. server 126 or othernodes. In this case, the application program controlling themicroprocessor 204 is supported by an operating system and includes aservices support (SS) application program which supports thedownloading, upon a request from a wireless unit, the ES applicationprogram from server 128 to the requesting wireless mobile unit. In thiscase, the user will be an administrator who maintains the operation ofthe server. The SS application supports the registration of wirelessmobile units, and may also support the storage of user data for use inbackup and restore functions with the respective wireless mobile units.

FIG. 3 illustrates a known packet 302 used for transmitting SMSmessages. Packet 302 includes a header 304 and a user data portion 306.The header 302 contains a number of fields in which data representsinformation and parameters that are used in the transmission, routingand processing of the packet. The header fields differ depending onwhether the packet was originated from a mobile unit or is to bedelivered to a mobile unit. Both types of packets include the followingheader information: the service center address (SCA), the protocol dataunit type (PDU) that itself includes a variety of different fields, aprotocol identifier (PID) that determines how the SMSC is to process thepacket, the digital coding scheme (DCS) identifying the coding schemewithin the user data, the user data length (UDL) that specifies thelength of the user data. For packets to be delivered to a mobile, theheader also contains: the originator address (OA), a service center timestamp (SCTS) identifying the time when the SMSC received the message.For packets originated from a mobile, the header also contains: amessage reference (MR) that supplies a successive number that assistswith reassembly of a user message that is sent using multiple packetsdue to its length, a destination address (DA), a validity period (VP)which identifies a time from where the message is no longer valid in theSMSC. The user data portion 306 contains a message of alphanumericcharacters input by the user which is the information desired to becommunication to another. As is known, the number of characters that canbe contained within one user data portion 306 is limited in accordancewith the data length limitation of 140 octets associated with signalingsystem seven (SS 7). Using 7 bit coding, 160 characters can be containedin one user data portion. However, if Unicode coding is utilized, userdata portion will accommodate fewer characters as two bytes percharacter are used.

FIG. 4 illustrates a data segment having a sequence of fields containinginformation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.The data segment 402 is coextensive with and resides within a user datasegment 306. However, the data segment 402 contains command and controlinformation in addition to a user input message. As will be explained inmore detail below, a data segment 402 is processed by the servicessupport application program operating on the originating and terminatingwireless mobile unit wherein the command and control information isidentified and processed based on predetermined command and controlcodes stored as part of the services support application program.Because the data segment 402 is totally encapsulated within the userdata portion 306, e.g. a user data portion of an SMS message, the datasegments 402 are simply treated as conventional user data by thetelecommunication infrastructure nodes which pass the encapsulated datasegments 402 from an originating wireless mobile unit to a terminatingwireless mobile unit. Only the wireless mobile units process the datasegments using the services support application program and implementactions corresponding to any command and control information containedwithin the data segment 402, as well as providing the user with any usermessage included in a user data segment.

In the exemplary embodiment, field 404 of the data segment 402 consistsof four bytes which identify one of a plurality of message types inaccordance with predetermined message types stored in the SS applicationprogram. In this example, field 404 contains the label “//P:” whereinthe characters // and : form part of the label, and the “P” identifies aspecific type of message, i.e. a Peanut message type. In this exemplaryembodiment, a Peanut message type identifies the message as being aperson-to-person communication. Different characters in place of the “P”in this field can be used to identify other message types where eachmessage type is associated with different subject matter, e.g. email,banking, insurance, coupons, games, health care, etc. Field 406 consistsof one byte identifying the format or coding structure. In this example,field 406 may have valid values of 0, 1 or 2 wherein 1 indicates acontrol message, 0 indicates a normal user message utilizing 7 bitcoding, and 2 indicates a normal user message utilizing the Unicodeformat. Field 408 consists of one byte having a value where this valueidentifies the priority of the associated message assigned by themessage originator that is intended to alert the recipient of theintended priority, e.g. urgency, of acting on and/or responding to themessage. As will be explained, this value may also control additionalaspects, e.g. encryption/decryption. Field 410 consists of one byte,i.e. a command byte, identifying the length of message parameter valuesand may have valid values of 0-128. The value of field 410 specifies thenumber of sequential bytes that are part of a control portion of thedata segment, i.e. bytes before the user input data begins. Field 411consists of a number of bytes equal to the value in field 410, e.g.0-128, and contains name value pairs as will explained in the belowexamples. Field 412 contains the user input information desired to beconveyed to another party. If the length of the user input informationexceeds the number of bytes available in field 412 of one data segment,the user input information can be parsed and transmitted as multiplefragments sent in a series of SMS packets containing corresponding datasegments 402 with the parsed user information.

FIG. 5 is a table where each row represents an example of bytes indifferent data segments 402. The top row of FIG. 5 contains labels ofthe first 20 bytes showing the respective byte positions 0-19. A firstexample, Ex1, shows an exemplary control message that will beinterpreted by the ES application program operating on the destinationwireless mobile unit to deactivate the ES application program on thesubject mobile unit. The command may be sent from the SS applicationprogram running on the server as the result of termination ofregistration on the subject user or as a request of the owner of thesubject mobile unit since the subject handset is currently lost orstolen. Deactivation of the ES application program will prevent the ESapplication program from operating on the subject mobile handset, whichin turn prevents usage of features and/or user data only accessiblethrough the ES application program. Bytes 0-3, which correspond to“//P:” define the data segment 402 as being a Peanut application. The 1value in byte 4 defines the data segment as being a control message, the0 value in byte 6 indicates that no length of message parameter valuesis specified, and the 0 in byte 5 is merely a place holder in the bytesequence since there is no user message and hence no correspondingmessage priority to specify. Where no user message exists, the value ofbyte 5 is not relevant, i.e. a “don't care value”. The character string“DEACTIVATE” residing in bytes 7-16 will be interpreted by the ESapplication program on the recipient mobile unit as a predefined commandto prohibit further operation of the ES application program on thesubject mobile unit.

Example 2 of FIG. 5 is a data segment similar to example 1 in that itcontains a “WIPEOUT” command that will be interpreted by the ESapplication program on the recipient wireless mobile unit as a requestto completely wipe out user data stored through the Peanut applicationoperating under the ES application program. That is, all messages,contacts, templates and other user data stored by the Peanut applicationwill be deleted. These first and second examples are intended to bemerely representative of a variety of commands that can be utilized,e.g. “ACTIVATE” to activate a Peanut application, “CHANGEPIN <xxxx>” topermit the changing of a personal invitation number or password to thevalue xxxx contained in the control message, etc.

Example 3 of FIG. 5 illustrates a different type of Peanut applicationdata segment in which the 0 value in byte 4 indicates that the datasegment is a normal message type. The 0 value in byte 6 indicates thatno message parameter values are specified. The value 4 in byte 5 is usedto convey the priority selected by the message originator in accord withFIG. 11. This message will be displayed on the screen of the recipient'scommunication device with a gray background, that is, the message ofalphanumeric characters is displayed on a segment of the recipient'sscreen in which the background color of the segment is gray. The graybackground color is intended to convey to the recipient that this is anormal communication and that a response is not expected by theoriginator. A predefined group of background colors with correspondingmessage priorities is made known to all end-users so that the originatorof a message can specify a corresponding message priority that will beconveyed in accordance with the present invention to the recipient. Thedisplay of different background colors for the alphanumeric charactersof the message is intended as exemplary of a variety of visual indiciathat could be displayed on the screen of the destination device todenote message priorities. For example, the color of the alphanumericcharacters themselves, the color of a portion of the screen segmentdisplaying a message, the color of a separate field or distinctivesymbol displayed adjacent the message text/field, type or style of thealphanumeric characters, shading associated with the alphanumericcharacters and/or background, or other visually distinctive appearanceswith corresponding priority definitions can be utilized to conveydifferent priorities for a message. It is preferred that the priorityindicia always be included when the corresponding message is displayed,e.g. it will be displayed with saved messages, messages restored frombackup storage, messages transferred to another user device, messages asdisplayed on the originating device, etc. Also, a larger number of typesof priorities can be used to convey finer distinctions of originatorexpectations, e.g. orange color=“urgent, confirm message receipt as soonas possible”; purple color=“normal message priority, reply within Xhours/days”, etc. As among a group of users, the group members are freeto agree that the available suggested priority categories (colors) willhave an understood meaning that differs from the standard suggestedmeaning. The Peanut application on the receiving wireless mobile unitwill interpret this data segment as carrying a message, “HELLO FM MIKE”,to be displayed to the user against a gray color background indicating anormal communication to which the originator does not expect a replycommunication.

Example 4 of FIG. 5 carries the same message to be conveyed to the useras in example 3. Again, the 0 value in byte 4 indicates that the datasegment is a normal message type. However, the 4 value in byte 6indicates that 4 bytes starting at byte location 7 carry controlinformation that precedes the user message. In this example, bytes 7-10contain “E006”, where the E in byte 7, i.e. a command identificationcharacter, indicates that an expiration of the subject message is to beexecuted (message is to be automatically deleted), 0 in byte 8 indicatesexpiration in zero days, 0 in byte 9 indicates expiration in zero hours,and the 6 in byte 10 indicates expiration in six minutes. That is, uponthe receipt of this data segment by the Peanut application on thedestination wireless mobile unit, the subject message, ““HELLO FM MIKE”,will be conveyed to the user, but all instances of this message will beautomatically deleted from recipient mobile unit on the expiration ofsix minutes. The value 4 in byte 5 indicates the message will bedisplayed with a gray background conveying a normal communication inwhich a reply communication by the recipient is not expected.

Example 5 shows an illustrative Peanut application data segment which issimilar to example 4 in that the value in byte 6 is not zero indicatingthat a command in addition to the user messages contained in the datasegment. In this example, the 7 in byte 6 indicates that seven bytesstarting with byte 7 are associated with command information and precedethe beginning of the user data to be conveyed. The L in byte 7 will beinterpreted as signifying that the subject data segment is a longmessage, i.e. the subject user message has too many characters to becontained in only one data segment, thereby requiring fragmentation ofthe user message into a plurality of message fragments that will betransmitted in a number of data segments. The four bytes, bytes 8-11,collectively comprise a value used to identify each of the required datasegments needed to complete the long message. In this example, thisvalue is “0001”. The next byte, byte 12, represents the total number ofdata segments required to complete the long message. In this example,byte 12 has a value of 2 indicating that two data segments are requiredto complete the single long message. Byte 13 represents the currentfragment number of the subject data segment. In this example, byte 13has a value of 1 indicating that this is the first data segment fragmentof the long message in the long message fragments identified as “0001”.The first character of the actual user message is in byte 14 with theremaining bytes in the subject data segment carrying further portions ofa first message fragment. Example 6 shows the second and last messagefragment that completes the long message identified by “0001”. Byte 13of example 6 contains a value of 2 indicating that it is the second in amessage fragment series. It is also the last of the message fragmentseries since byte 12 indicates that the long message is contained in twomessage fragments. Byte 14 in example 6 contains the first character ofuser data in this data segment, but corresponds to the next character inthe long user message that follows the last character of the usermessage contained in the preceding data segment represented by example5. The value 3 in byte 5 in examples 5 and 6 causes the messagecharacters to be displayed against a green screen background on therecipient's device which is intended to convey a normal communication inwhich a response is expected by the originator.

Example 7 illustrates a data segment that contains two commands. Thevalue 12 in byte 6 indicates that 12 bytes starting with byte 7 areassociated with commands. As explained in example 4, the values “E005”in bytes 7-10 indicate a message expiration upon five minutes from thereceipt by the Peanut application. The value 255 in byte 11 serves as apredetermined separation character used to separate commands. Similar toexample 6, the L in byte 12, which is the first field/character at thebeginning of a command string, identifies this data segment as a longmessage. The bytes 13-16 serve to identify the fragments in series ofdata segments. Byte 17 has a value of 2 indicating that there are atotal of two fragments in the long message series and byte 18 with avalue of 1 indicates that this is the first fragment in the series. Thefirst portion of the actual user message follows beginning at byte 19.

Example 8 represents the second fragment of the long message where thefirst fragment was described in example 7. It will be noted that thisdata segment contains only a single command associated with the longmessage fragmentation. That is, the time expiration contained as a firstcommand in the first message fragment is not repeated. In accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention, a time expiration commandcommunicated in a first message fragment will automatically be effectivefor all succeeding fragments of the same long message. Thus, theentirety of the perceived long message will be subject to the timeexpiration. In this example, the value 7 in byte 5 indicates a commandstring of seven characters in which: L in byte 7 identifies this segmentas a long message type, “0002” in bytes 8-11 identifies the long messagefragment series, 2 in byte 12 indicates that the long message consistsof two message segments, and the 2 in byte 13 indicates that this is thesecond fragment in the series of the identified long message, and sincethere are only two message fragments in this long message, the 2 in byte13 also indicates that this is the last received fragment in the series.The remaining portion of the user message begins with byte 14 andcontinues to the conclusion of the user message is contained in thismessage fragment. The value 1 in byte 5 in examples 7 and 8 will causethe message characters to be displayed on the recipient's screen segmentagainst a red background which is intended by the originator to conveyan emergency message requiring immediate attention.

When a message sent from an originator's device using a native messageclient is received and processed by the destination device using thePeanut ES application, the message is displayed on the destinationdevice's screen with a white background, denoting that this message wasreceived as a public unsecured communication. Previously receivedmessages are stored by the respective ES applications and alwaysdisplayed with the corresponding background color of its associatedpriority as determined by byte 5 of the respective message. Preferably,messages being composed and stored by an ES application on anorigination device are also displayed on the screen of the originationdevice by the ES application with the background color selected by theuser for the priority of the respective message.

In the above examples of FIG. 5, all of the characters in the variousbyte positions are shown in a clear text format. In order to preservesecurity during the transmission of such messages, it is preferred thatthe majority of each message be sent in an encrypted format. Forexample, all bytes after byte 3 will preferably be transmitted utilizinga form of encryption. Those skilled in the art will understand that theuse of such encryption requires that the receiving wireless mobiledevice be capable of decrypting the received encrypted characters thustransforming each received message into a corresponding clear textformat as illustrated in accordance with FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative flow diagram of the operation of the mobileservices server in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The illustrated process begins with START 602. In step 604the server receives a user request in the form of a message such asincluding a command in the format as illustrated in FIG. 5. Uponreceiving the user request, a determination is made in step 606 ofwhether the user is registered. This step may include the servicesserver querying a database storing a list of registered users todetermine if the requesting user is registered. A NO determination bystep 606, indicating that the requesting user is not registered, resultsin step 608 beginning a registration process of the subject user. Theprocess may include the transmission of messages between the server andthe user's wireless mobile unit by which the server ascertainssufficient information to register the user. In step 610 a determinationis made of whether the registration process is complete. A NOdetermination by step 610 results in further processing by step 608.Should the registration process not be completed within a predeterminedtime period, step 610 will time out resulting in the termination of theprocess and the request has indicated at END 612.

A YES determination by step 606 or a YES determination by step 610results in the user request being processed as indicated by step 614.Processing of the request may include parsing the received request todetermine included commands and/or user message components. Suchprocessing is substantially the same as described later with regard toprocessing of received messages by wireless mobile unit. In step 616,the request is fulfilled. The fulfilling or action taken in response tothe request will vary depending upon the nature of the request itself.The action taken may be applicable to the wireless mobile unit thatoriginated the request or to a different wireless mobile unit. Forexample, a BACKUP request will cause the uploading and storage of userdata contained on the requesting mobile unit to the services server. ARESTORE request will cause the stored user data previously obtainedduring a BACKUP request to be downloaded and installed on the requestinglocal unit from the services server. However, other commands mayinitiate actions to be taken at a wireless mobile unit that is not therequesting mobile unit. For example, a DEACTIVATE request received bythe services server from a first mobile unit will cause another wirelessmobile unit, having an address specified in the request, to bedeactivated. Such a request requires user authentication to ensure thatthe user making the request is the registered owner of the device towhich the deactivation request is directed. The process terminates atEND 612.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship of programs operating on a wireless mobileunit that provides enhanced services in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. This shows an overview of the generalrelationship between the operating system (OS) 702, the digitalcommunication interface 704, router 705, a native communication program706 and the enhanced services communication program 708. As known tothose skilled in the art, a number of different operating systemssupport the operation of various programs and applications on differentwireless mobile units, e.g. Symbian, Android, Apple's iOS, Research InMotion's BlackBerry OS, Microsoft's Windows Phone, etc. The digitalcommunication interface 704 recognizes the transport layer communicationprotocol, e.g. SMS, MMS, email, etc., used to convey the receivedinformation and converts the information provided from the wirelessreceiver into a digital character string for processing by the nativecommunication program 706 or the enhanced services communication program708. The digital communication interface 704 also converts a digitalcharacter string received from program 706 or 708 into information inthe specified transport layer communication protocol provided to thewireless transmitter. Router 705 controls whether the digitalcommunication interface communicates with the native communicationprogram 706, the ES communications program 708, or both based oninstructions received from the ES communication program. For example,the user can select via the ES communication program to have allincoming messages sent for processing by both the native communicationprogram 706 and the ES communications program 708. Alternatively, theuser can select via the ES communication program to have all incomingmessages sent for processing only to the ES communications program 708,which is capable of processing messages received with native formattingor ES application formatting. Choosing the latter is advantageous sincethe ES application is capable of additional services, e.g. receivedmessages of all formats can be conveniently backed up and laterretrieved/restored into the same user device or another device of theuser via these features of the ES application.

Native communication program 706 supports a plurality of files and/orrecords 710, e.g. inbox, outbox, archived data, contacts, etc. Thenative communication program refers to the communication programoriginally supplied by the manufacturer or service provider upon theinitial acquisition of a wireless mobile unit by a user. The enhancedservices communication program 708 is an application program that istypically installed by the user such as by downloading it from theservices server or otherwise installing it from an external source. Theenhanced services communication program 708 also supports a plurality offiles and/or records 712, e.g. inbox, outbox, archived data, contacts,etc. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the usermust obtain access to the enhanced services communication program inorder to access its supported files and records. Access may be, forexample, obtained by entering a user identification and correspondingpassword in response to user prompts displayed on the screen by theenhanced services communication program upon request to open thisprogram. Interactions between the enhanced services communicationprogram and the native communication program is supported by anapplication program interface (API) associated with the nativecommunication program and/or supported by the operating system itself.

In the illustrated example, the digital communication interface 704transmits and receives digital communication strings with both thenative communication program 706 and the enhanced services communicationprogram 708. Since communications originated from a wireless mobile unitutilizing the enhanced services communication program is encrypted, thereceipt of such an encrypted communication by a destination mobiledevice will be unintelligible as viewed from a native communicationprogram of the destination mobile device. However, the message may beviewed in clear text format by utilizing the enhanced servicescommunication program on the destination mobile device. For example, areceived SMS text message that was transmitted from an enhanced servicescommunication program on the origination mobile device, will appear as astring of unintelligible characters when viewed by the nativecommunication program of a recipient device, except for the leadingformat indicator “//P:”. The same message will be displayed in a cleartext format in the inbox of enhanced services communication program(Peanut) on the recipient device.

The enhanced services communication program 708 may include a pluralityof modules or sub-programs that support different types of enhancedservices, e.g. Peanut “//P:” for messaging, Walnut “//W:” for email,Hazelnut “//H:” for banking, Brazilnut “//B:” for insurance, Chestnut“//C:” for games, Pistachio “//PH:” for healthcare, The Nest “//TN:” forcoupons, etc. In support of multiple types of ES, the enhanced servicescommunication program 708 also contains a router module 709 whichdetermines the type of received communication based on the identifyingformat, i.e. the “//X:” designation, and routes the communication to thecorresponding module for processing. This routing is independent of thetransport layer communication protocol that was used to convey theincoming communication to the destination communication device.

For example, an incoming SMS message from the user's automobileinsurance agent may contain a notice of the date on which the term ofthe current insurance policy will be expiring and a reminder to pay thepremium to keep the policy in effect. This SMS message will have beentransmitted from a device using ES originated by the Brazilnut module“//B:” format since the subject matter of the communication deals withinsurance. The router module 709 in the recipient's communication devicewill recognize this ES format and route the corresponding communicationto the Brazilnut module for processing. An ES email communicationconcerning insurance, sent from an originator device using the Brazilnutmodule, could have been used to convey the same message wherein therouter module 709 in the recipient's communication device would routethe email communication with a “//B:” format to the Brazilnut module forprocessing.

Each ES module supports a unique ES format to identify itself andcontains its own segregated set of user utilities, i.e. inbox, outbox,etc. That is, each ES module may require a separate user identificationand password in order to access the corresponding user utilities, andwill have different encryption/decryption requirements than other ESmodules. As explained above, encryption is used for ES communicationsexcept for the ES format identification. To properly decrypt a receivedcommunication into clear text, the incoming communication must beprocessed by the ES module in the destination user's device thatcorresponds to the ES module used to originate the communication sinceeach ES module uses a different form of encryption. For example, anincoming Brazilnut communication received by the intended destinationdevice and processed by its Brazilnut module will be decrypted into aclear text message. However, an incoming Brazilnut communicationreceived by the intended destination device if processed by an ES moduleother than the Brazilnut module would not be properly decrypted into aclear text message since the decryption process would not match theencryption process. Thus, ES communications, even if processed by theintended destination device, will appear as a character string that isnot intelligible if processed by the native communication program of thedevice or by an ES module of a different format. An ES communication ifreceived or intercepted by an unintended destination device will appearas an unintelligible character string since the encryption/decryptionprocess is also unique to the originator/recipient, i.e. theencryption/decryption key includes parameters associated with specificdevices/users. Hence, the embodiment of the present invention providesidentity management as well as subject matter organization andmanagement.

FIG. 8 shows steps of a method practiced by a wireless mobile unit thatprovides enhanced services in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. This process begins at START 802. In step 804incoming data originated from another wireless mobile unit is receivedat the subject destination wireless mobile unit. The ES applicationprovides a user selectable input by which the user chooses how receivedmessages are to be processed. That is, the user can select whether tohave all messages routed to both ES application and the nativeapplication or have all messages routed only to the ES application forprocessing. This user input selection is stored in memory as part of theES application in the corresponding communication device and controlshow received messages are routed in accordance with the control providedby the ES communication program 708 to the router 705.

A determination is made in step 406 of whether all received messages areto be routed to both the native processing application and the ESapplication. A YES determination by step 806 causes the received messageto be transmitted for processing to both the native processingapplication 808 and to the ES application 810. A NO determination bystep 806, indicating that the user has not selected that all incomingmessages be processed by both applications, results in step 814 making adetermination of whether the user has selected all incoming messages tobe processed only by the ES application. A YES determination by step 814results and all incoming messages being processed by the ES applicationat step 810. A NO determination by step 814 results in step 816 making adetermination if a valid ES format is present in the received message.For example, a valid ES format can be determined to have been receivedin a message if the first 4 bytes consist of “//X:” where the Xcorresponds to one of the valid modules in the ES application. A NOdetermination by step 816 results in the message being transferred tothe native process application for handling as indicated at step 808. AYES determination by step 816, indicating that a valid ES format ispresent in the received message, results in the message being processedby an ES application at step 810. In step 810, the ES module to beutilized to process the received message is determined based on the “X”as explained above. If a message is received by step 810 for processingthat does not contain a valid ES module identification, the ESapplication will still process the message as a native message in amanner similar to the native process application. However, the nativeprocessing provided by the ES application differs from the processingprovided by the native application in that the ES application places theresulting message in an inbox of a predetermined default ES module, e.g.the message is displayed to a user in the secure inbox of the Peanutapplication. An advantage of having the ES application process all ofthe received messages is that all of the supported ES features, e.g.security, backup, retrieval, restore, etc., is made available for allreceived messages, even messages that were originated from a user devicewith native processing. It also permits the user to easily transfer allof the saved messages stored on one handset to another handset, evenwhere the other handset is made by a different manufacturer and/orutilizes a different operating system. Since all received messages arestored only in secure inboxes of the ES application, all receivedmessages are protected by the security provided by the ES application.

FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of steps utilized by a wireless mobile unitto process a received enhanced services message in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Beginning with START 902, thereceived message is parsed into commands and user data in step 904. Asexplained with regard to FIG. 5, the values contained in bytes 4 and 5can be used to separate the received message into commands and userdata. The message may consist of only commands, only user data, orcommands and user data. In step 906 a determination is made of whethercommands are present. A YES determination by step 906 results in step908 identifying a first command and its associated parameters. The typeof command is identified by comparing the received command characterswith a table of predetermined commands stored in the wireless mobileunit as part of the enhanced services application program. This tablealso contains a stored list of predetermined parameters associated withthe command, where the value of receipt parameters determines the extentor range of an associated action associated with the command. In step910 the identified command is fulfilled, i.e. depending on the type ofcommand, the command may be immediately executed or scheduled to beexecuted upon the occurrence of an event or scheduled for execution at alater time. In step 912 a determination is made of whether anothercommand is present in the received message. A YES determination by step912 results of processing continuing with step 908.

A NO determination by step 906 or a NO determination by step 912 resultsin step 914 making a determination of whether user data is present inthe subject received message. A NO determination by step 914, indicatingthat no user data is present to be processed, results in the conclusionof processing at END 916. A YES determination by step 914 results instep 918 processing the user data contained in the received message.Typically, in the case of an SMS text message, processing user dataincludes providing an alert to the user indicating that a message hasbeen received, displaying the received message on the screen of theuser's wireless mobile unit along with visual indicia indicating thepriority assigned by the originator, and storing the received message asa file or record, e.g. a record in the INBOX of the enhanced servicesapplication program. Assuming the message was transmitted as anencrypted format, the message will be decrypted, displayed on the screenwith corresponding visual indicia, and stored in the INBOX as a cleartext message by the enhanced services application program. Theprocessing that concludes at END 916.

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of steps utilized by wireless mobile unitassociated with the transmission of a message by an ES module of theenhanced services application program in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. Beginning with START 1002, a user inputinterface is displayed on the screen of the user's wireless mobile unitfor the ES module selected by the user at step 1004. This inputinterface may consist of graphical user interface with one or more menuseach containing a list of items or commands for selection by the user.Alternatively the user may be presented with a blank field in whichalphanumeric characters can be entered by the user. Part of the inputinterface may include the selection of an existing contact or entry ofthe address of the wireless mobile unit to receive the message beingcomposed. In step 1006 determination is made of whether commands havebeen selected by the user to be included in the message to betransmitted to another user. A YES determination by step 1006 results instep 1008 identifying the command and its associated parameters to beincluded in the message, and storing the command in an appropriateformat for later transmission. As part of the enhanced servicesapplication program, each of the user selectable commands as provided byuser input interface is linked to a corresponding command by a table orrecords stored in the wireless mobile unit as part of the enhancedservices application program. As explained with regard to FIG. 5, afirst command and its parameters are formatted to occupy a series ofbytes beginning with byte 7. In step 1010 determination is made ofwhether another command is selected by the user to be included in thesame message. A YES determination by step 1010 results in step 1008processing further selected command. Example 7 in FIG. 5 illustrates asecond command included in the same message. Formatting of furthercommands includes inserting a separation character “255” at the bytefollowing a previous command followed by the insertion of the commandcharacters and its parameters. After the insertion of all commands to betransmitted in a single message, the values in byte positions 4 and 6are determined and inserted as previously explained with regard to FIG.5.

A NO determination by step 1010 or by step 1006 results in step 1012making a further determination of whether user data is to be sent aspart of the message being composed by the user. A YES determination bystep 1012, indicating that user data is to be included, results in step1014 receiving the user input of the data to be included in the messageand storing the user data beginning at the byte position following thelast byte of the last command. User input data can be input utilizing agraphical user interface such as from menu selection or by acceptingalphanumeric characters entered the user in a predetermined data entryfield; see FIGS. 12, 15. For each message, the originating user canselect a priority, such as one of the exemplary priorities shown in FIG.11, that will be assigned to the message. Messages are transmitted witha default priority, e.g. “GRAY”, if the originating user does not set adifferent priority before the message is completed. This is explained inmore detail with regard to FIGS. 12-16. Following step 1014 or upon a NOdetermination by step 1012, indicating that no user data is to beincluded, a determination is made in step 1018 of whether the completedmessage should be sent. A YES determination by step 1018 results in thecomposed message being transmitted from the utilized ES module to thedestination wireless mobile unit by step 1020. As part of thetransmission process, the transmitted message may be stored in theOUTBOX of the corresponding ES module in the originating wireless mobileunit. The process concludes at END 1060. A NO determination by step1018, indicating that the composed message is not to be transmitted,results in the aborting of the transmission of the message at step 1022and determination of processing at END 1016.

FIG. 11 shows a table where each row represents a different messagepriority selectable by the originating user in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. This information is stored inmemory associated with the ES application. The left column shows a valuethat is placed in byte 5 of the ES format regardless of which ES clientapplication, e.g. Peanut, Walnut, Brazil Nut, etc., is used to transmitthe message and regardless of which message format, e.g. SMS, MMS,email, etc., is used. Each ES client application capable of transmittingmessages of different message formats. The middle column shows anassigned color for the each priority that will be displayed as thebackground color against which the alphanumeric characters of themessage will be shown to the message recipient. The right columndescribes the condition that each priority represents.

In addition to displaying a background color indicative of the messagepriority, the value of the priority byte may be utilized by the ESapplication for other purposes and functions. For example, the type ofencryption/decryption utilized for a message may be determined based onthe value of the priority byte, e.g. values 1-4 may be interpreted bythe ES application to utilize a default type of messageencryption/decryption with the corresponding background colors shown inFIG. 11, while values 5-8 causes the ES application to utilize adifferent type of message encryption/decryption with the display of thesame background colors as for values 1-4, respectively.

Also the value of the priority byte can indicate a message securitylevel, e.g. the value 9 may cause a black background color to bedisplayed with the message and cause the ES application to utilize ahigher level or different encryption/decryption technique such asrequiring a dynamic key exchange or a user entered encryption/decryptionkey in order to encrypt/extract the clear text message. For example,when the originating party selects BLACK as a priority indication, theoriginator is prompted to enter a password which is used as a customencryption key to convert clear text message to cipher text that istransmitted to the destination party. On the receiving end, an incomingmessage with a BLACK priority is received and stored in the cipher textmode. To convert the cipher text message with an associated BLACKpriority to clear text, the receiving party will be prompted to enter apassword as part of a dynamic key exchange, where the password enteredby the receiving party must be the same password used by the originatoror a decryption password associated with the encryption passwordutilized by the originator as part of a linked encryption/decryptionkey. The described encryption/decryption technique and the storage ofthe message as cipher text for priority value 9 (BLACK) prioritymessages differ from the priority values 1-4 and 5-8 in that theencryption/decryption of messages associated with the other prioritiesis processed automatically in accordance with the ES application and thecorresponding messages are displayed and stored in clear text formatboth at the originating and receiving devices. A received BLACK prioritymessage is stored and displayed as cipher text, and will not bedisplayed as clear text unless the user enters the requiredpassword/key.

Message priorities as implemented by an embodiment of the presentinvention are ubiquitous. A message of a specified priority, e.g. green,is displayed with the same priority indicia to the recipient regardlessof transport layer communication protocol used to transport the message,i.e. whether the message was conveyed via SMS, MMS, email, etc. Further,message priority is uniform across all modules of the ES application soa “red” priority SMS message originated by a Peanut module and a “red”priority SMS message originated by a Brazil Nut module are displayedwith the same priority indicia to the recipient even though the receivedmessage is processed by different modules of the ES application. Theoriginating device using the ES application saves sent messages with thecorresponding priorities and displays sent messages with the samepriority indicia as presented to the recipient. Hence, users can easilydiscern by the display of sent messages the priority that was associatedwith each.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary view of a home screen of an enhanced servicesmodule, e.g. Peanut module, providing a graphical user interface for awireless mobile unit. The exemplary screen 1205 represents a home orbase screen that provides a graphical user interface for the Peanutmodule of the enhanced services application. The illustrative displayedicons include WRITE 1210, CONTACTS 1215, INBOX 1220, OUTBOX 1225,SETTINGS 1230, and TOOLS 1235. These icons are user selectable andprovide a link to further graphical user interface screens that can beutilized to control features of the enhanced services application andinput user data. Selecting the WRITE icon provides a gateway for theuser to reach the screen shown in FIG. 15 that supports the compositionand input of the message under the control of the originating user.Selecting the SETTINGS icon provides a gateway for the user to reach thescreen shown in FIG. 13 in which the user can choose various globalsettings to be applied during the operation of the enhanced servicesapplication. Similarly, the other icons shown in FIG. 12 providegateways to other corresponding graphical user interfaces for functionscorresponding to the name of the icon.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary view of a graphical user interface screen1305 reached through selection of the SETTINGS icon 1230 shown in FIG.12. This screen in combination with submenus and/or other screens lowerin a hierarchy of screens enable the user to control various globalsettings associated with the enhanced services application. Relevant tothe present discussion are the global settings associated with the“PRIORITY DEFAULT” item 1310, i.e. a default priority assigned to allmessages originated from the subject wireless mobile unit. Upon theselection by the user of the “PRIORITY DEFAULT” on this screen, the useris presented with screen 1405 as shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary view of the graphical user interface screen1405 by which a global default priority setting can be changed. In thisexemplary screen the currently set default priority is visually conveyedto the user. In this example, the currently set default priority isGREEN. This color corresponds to a priority condition explained withregard to FIG. 11. If the user desires to change the global defaultpriority to be used for all originated messages, user is instructed toselect one of the other possible priorities and to effectuate change bythen selecting the SAVE button 1410. Should the user choose to notchange the default priority the user may select the CANCEL button 1415.Selecting either the SAVE or CANCEL button will return the user to ahigher level screen. The global default priority will be in effect forall types of messages, e.g. SMS text, MMS, email, etc., that areoriginated using the module of the enhanced services application withthe corresponding global setting screen 1405, which is in theillustrative example the Peanut module. The user may select a differentglobal default priority setting for messages originated under differentmodules, e.g. the Walnut module may have different global settings thatcontrol messages originated under Walnut than the global settings formessages originated by the Peanut module.

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary view of a Peanut message composition screen1505 which may be reached through selection of the WRITE icon shown inFIG. 12. Fields 1510 may comprise what is commonly referred to as headerinformation, e.g. “To” containing the address of the recipient(s);“From” containing the address of the originator; “cc” containing theaddress of any other recipients to which the message may be copied;“Subject” containing a label or description provided by the originatoras to the subject of the message. As will be understood, the fieldscontaining addresses may contain the actual destination address of therecipient(s) or a label associated with a stored contact record thatcontains the destination address. The screen 1505 contains an area 1515in which the originating user inserts alphanumeric characters and/orinformation that forms the body of the message to be conveyed to therecipients. The CANCEL button 1520, SAVE button 1525, and the SENDbutton 1530 perform the respective indicated functions when selected bythe user. A PRIORITY button 1535 is provided to allow the user to selecta priority to be utilized for the message being composed that isdifferent from the global default priority. Selecting the PRIORITYbutton 1535, during the composition of the subject message and beforethe SEND button 1530 is selected to initiate transmission of themessage, will cause the screen as shown in FIG. 16 to be displayed.

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary view of a graphical user interface screen1605 which allows the user to choose a priority setting for the messagebeing composed. The exemplary screen 1605 may provide informationreminding the user of the currently set global default priority, whichis a GREEN priority in this example. The user may be instructed toselect a priority setting from a provided list 1610 of priorities. Ifthe user does not choose to set a priority other than the global defaultpriority of GREEN, user can select the CANCEL button 1615 to return toscreen 1505. If a user elects to choose a priority to be applied to thesubject message other than the global default priority, the user willfirst select the desired priority from the list 1610 and then select theAPPLY button 1620 causing the user to be returned to screen 1505. Whenthe subject message has been completed and readied for transmission byselection of the SEND button 1530, byte 5 of the user data portion willbe populated with a value corresponding to the priority of the subjectmessage. If screen 1605 is used to select a priority other than theglobal default priority for a particular message, such a selection isonly in effect with regard to controlling the priority for the subjectmessage. That is, the global default priority will still be effective asthe priority to be used for the next message to be composed. Thisprovides an originator with the ability to set the global defaultpriority to the most often used priority, while still allowing theoriginator to select different priorities on a message by message basis.

Preferably the screen 1505 will convey the current message priority tothe user originating the message with a visual indication before whilethe message is still being composed. For example, the background colorof the text entry area can be variable and provide a color correspondingto associated color of the current message priority, e.g. a greenbackground color would indicate a GREEN priority, etc. Alternatively,various types of visual indications can be displayed on the ComposeMessage screen to provide an indication of the message priority. Forexample, a window area, button, symbol or text characters could havevariable colors that would change to reflect the currently selectedmessage priority. The background color of the priority button 1535 orthe text color of “PRIORITY” on this button could change to convey themessage priority.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, theparticular encryption utilized to encrypt the user data segment, exceptfor the first 4 bytes that identify the module of the enhanced servicesapplication to the used, may be determined by the message priorityselected. Different types of encryption may include differentencryption/decryption algorithms and/or different encryption/decryptionkeys, or both. Additional information with regard to the selection ofthe encryption/decryption utilized based on the priority value isprovided with regard to FIG. 11. Upon the selection of the globaldefault priority or a different priority as explained in FIG. 16, thepriority for the subject message is stored, either as a value or color.Upon the user initiating the transmission of the message by selectingSEND as explained with regard to FIG. 15, the stored priority to be usedfor the message will be used as an index to identify a correspondingrecord (see FIG. 11) in a plurality of stored records, where thecorresponding record defines an associated color, priority value andspecification of the encryption/decryption algorithm and/orencryption/decryption key to be utilized. The module of the enhancedservices application prepares the message for transmission, wherein thespecified encryption/decryption algorithm and/or encryption/decryptionkey is utilized to encode the user message, and preferably all of theuser data segment except for the first 4 bytes. Once the encryption hasbeen performed, the user data segment is assembled with a correspondingheader and transmitted using the selected higher layer data transportformat.

The wireless mobile unit in one example employs one or morecomputer-readable signal-bearing tangible media. The computer-readablesignal-bearing tangible media store software, firmware and/or assemblylanguage for performing one or more portions of one or more embodimentsof the invention. The computer-readable signal-bearing tangible mediummay contain stored data in the form of magnetic, electrical, optical,biological, and atomic information. For example, the computer-readablesignal-bearing tangible medium comprise floppy disks, magnetic tapes,CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, hard disk drives, and electronic memory.

Although exemplary implementations of the invention have been depictedand described in detail herein, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various modifications, additions, substitutions, and thelike can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.Although the background color of displayed messages is used to indicatepriority in the above examples, any visual indicia indicative ofpriority could be displayed in association with, e.g. concurrent with,adjacent to, or near, the message. Various types of encoding could beused with the transmission of a message to define the message priorityand corresponding visual indicia indicative of its priority. Thepriority “value” can comprise other than numeric values, e.g. differentalphabetic or other characters or symbols that identify correspondingdefined priorities.

The scope of the invention is defined in the following claims.

1. A method for originating an electronic communication by a firstend-user communication device, the method comprising: receiving userinput by the first end-user communication device to create informationto be conveyed by the electronic communication via transmission of adigital packet having a header segment and a user data segment, the userdata segment containing a user message and a priority value where thepriority value conveys a corresponding message priority to a recipientdevice, the priority value and the user message being determined by theuser of the first end-user communication device; displaying, under thecontrol of a first module of an enhanced services application program, acomposition screen by which the user input including the user message isentered; displaying on the composition screen visual indicia indicativeof a current message priority to be assigned to the user message;inserting, by the first module of the enhanced services applicationprogram, the priority value corresponding to the current messagepriority in a priority field in the user data segment prior totransmission of the digital packet; transmitting the digital packet withthe user data segment that contains the user message and the priorityvalue.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the visual indicia is a firstcolor that is displayed on the composition screen, other priority valueshaving corresponding other visual indicia represented by other colors.3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: the electroniccommunication being transmitted via one of a plurality of possibletransport layer communication protocols comprising short messagingservice (SMS) text messaging, multimedia messaging service (MMS),hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messaging service and emailprotocols; generating, under the control of the first module of theenhanced services application program, the same user data segmentregardless of which one of the plurality of possible transport layercommunication protocols is used to carry the electronic communication.4. The method of claim 1 wherein; the first module of an enhancedservices application program comprises one of a plurality of modules inthe enhanced services application program, and a first label is insertedinto the user data segment to identify the first module; said priorityvalue being used for all of the modules in the enhanced servicesapplication program so that a certain priority value will cause thedisplay of the same visual indicia in the composition screen regardlessof which of the modules processes the electronic communication.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising: the user message in the user datasegment being encrypted before transmission; the priority valueassociated with the user message identifying one of a plurality ofencryption algorithms and encryption keys that is used by the firstmodule to encrypt clear text user message entered by the user to producea corresponding encrypted user message; transmitting the encrypted usermessage as part of said packet.
 6. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: displaying on a screen to the first end-user a plurality ofpriorities; upon the selection by the first end-user of one of theplurality of priorities, using said one as the priority for the usermessage; upon the lack of a selection by the first end-user of one ofthe plurality of priorities, using a predetermined global defaultpriority as the priority for the user message.
 7. A computer programproduct, comprising a computer usable tangible medium having a computerreadable program code embodied therein, said computer readable programcode adapted to be executed to implement a method for generating anelectronic communication by a first end-user communication device, themethod comprising: receiving user input by the first end-usercommunication device to create information to be conveyed by theelectronic communication via transmission of a digital packet having aheader segment and a user data segment, the user data segment containinga user message and a priority value where the priority value conveys acorresponding message priority to a recipient device, the priority valueand the user message being determined by the user of the first end-usercommunication device; displaying, under the control of a first module ofan enhanced services application program, a composition screen by whichthe user input including the user message is entered; displaying on thecomposition screen visual indicia indicative of a current messagepriority to be assigned to the user message; inserting, by the firstmodule of the enhanced services application program, the priority valuecorresponding to the current message priority in a priority field in theuser data segment prior to transmission of the digital packet;transmitting the digital packet with the user data segment that containsthe user message and the priority value.
 8. The computer program productof claim 7 wherein the visual indicia is a first color that is displayedon the composition screen, other priority values having correspondingother visual indicia represented by other colors.
 9. The computerprogram product of claim 7 further comprising: the electroniccommunication being transmitted via one of a plurality of possibletransport layer communication protocols comprising short messagingservice (SMS) text messaging, multimedia messaging service (MMS),hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messaging service and emailprotocols; generating, under the control of the first module of theenhanced services application program, the same user data segmentregardless of which one of the plurality of possible transport layercommunication protocols is used to carry the electronic communication.10. The computer program product of claim 7 further comprising: thefirst module of an enhanced services application program comprises oneof a plurality of modules in the enhanced services application program,and a first label is inserted into the user data segment to identify thefirst module; said priority value being used for all of the modules inthe enhanced services application program so that a certain priorityvalue will cause the display of the same visual indicia in thecomposition screen regardless of which of the modules processes theelectronic communication.
 11. The computer program product of claim 7wherein; the user message in the user data segment being encryptedbefore transmission; the priority value associated with the user messageidentifying one of a plurality of encryption algorithms and encryptionkeys that is used by the first module to encrypt clear text user messageentered by the user to produce a corresponding encrypted user message;transmitting the encrypted user message as part of said packet.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 7 comprising; displaying on a screento the first end-user a plurality of priorities; upon the selection bythe first end-user of one of the plurality of priorities, using said oneas the priority for the user message; upon the lack of a selection bythe first end-user of one of the plurality of priorities, using apredetermined global default priority as the priority for the usermessage.
 13. An end-user wireless communication device that generates anelectronic communication, the device comprising: a microprocessorcontrolled apparatus receives user input to create information to beconveyed by the electronic communication; a transmitter that transmitsthe electronic communication being a digital packet having a headersegment and a user data segment, the user data segment containing a usermessage and a priority value where the priority value conveys acorresponding message priority to a recipient device, the priority valueand the user message being determined by the user of the end-usercommunication device; the microprocessor controlled apparatus causingthe display, under the control of a first module of an enhanced servicesapplication program, of a composition screen by which the user inputincluding the user message is entered; the microprocessor controlledapparatus causing the display, under the control of the first module ofthe enhanced services application program, on the composition screen ofvisual indicia indicative of a current message priority to be assignedto the user message; the microprocessor controlled apparatus inserting,under the control of the first module of the enhanced servicesapplication program, the priority value corresponding to the currentmessage priority in a priority field in the user data segment prior totransmission of the digital packet; the transmitter transmitting thedigital packet with the user data segment that contains the user messageand the priority value.
 14. An end-user wireless communication device ofclaim 13 wherein the visual indicia is a first color that is displayedon the composition screen, other priority values having correspondingother visual indicia represented by other colors.
 15. An end-userwireless communication device of claim 13 further comprising: thetransmitter transmitting the electronic communication via one of aplurality of possible transport layer communication protocols comprisingshort messaging service (SMS) text messaging, multimedia messagingservice (MMS), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) messaging service andemail protocols; the microprocessor controlled apparatus generating,under the control of the first module of the enhanced servicesapplication program, the same user data segment regardless of which oneof the plurality of possible transport layer communication protocols isused to carry the electronic communication.
 16. An end-user wirelesscommunication device of claim 13 further comprising: the first module ofan enhanced services application program comprising one of a pluralityof modules in the enhanced services application program; themicroprocessor controlled apparatus inserting a first label into theuser data segment to identify the first module; the microprocessorcontrolled apparatus using said priority value for all of the modules inthe enhanced services application program so that a certain priorityvalue will cause the display of the same visual indicia in thecomposition screen regardless of which of the modules processes theelectronic communication.
 17. An end-user wireless communication deviceof claim 13 wherein: the microprocessor controlled apparatus encryptingthe user message in the user data segment before transmission; themicroprocessor controlled apparatus using the priority value associatedwith the user message to identify one of a plurality of encryptionalgorithms and encryption keys that is used by the first module toencrypt clear text user message entered by the user to produce acorresponding encrypted user message; the transmitter transmitting theencrypted user message as part of said packet.
 18. An end-user wirelesscommunication device of claim 13 comprising; the microprocessorcontrolled apparatus causing the display on a screen to the firstend-user a plurality of priorities; the microprocessor controlledapparatus, upon the selection by the first end-user of one of theplurality of priorities, using said one as the priority for the usermessage; the microprocessor controlled apparatus, upon the lack of aselection by the first end-user of one of the plurality of priorities,using a predetermined global default priority as the priority for theuser message.